Independent third-party validation has confirmed that the Conservative government acted in bad faith this summer with the Employment Insurance Working Group, Liberal MPs said today.
“Instead of working together in good faith to find common ground to help the unemployed, the Conservatives chose to misrepresent our proposal and waste time while unemployed Canadians waited for help,” said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page issued his report today that concludes that $1.148 billion is “a reasonable estimate of the cost” of the Liberal proposal to provide a national standard for EI eligibility of 360 hours on a temporary basis.
Mr. Page was asked to do the independent analysis after the Conservatives deliberately skewed the numbers to peg the cost at $4 billion in an attempt to scare Canadians into believing that the Liberal proposal wasn’t feasible.
In his report, Mr. Page called the government’s costing “flawed” and “not consistent” with the Liberal proposal.
“Canadians do not need fear-mongering and falsifying numbers from their federal government,” said EI Working Group member Marlene Jennings.
“We gave an honest effort to get work done for unemployed Canadians,” said Liberal Human Resources Critic Michael Savage. “It’s disappointing that Conservative members of the group wasted this opportunity to make Parliament work.
To view the full report: http://www.liberal.ca/pdf/docs/EI_Estimate_360h_E.pdf
